Despite the growing popularity of diagnostic classification models (e.g., Rupp, Templin, & Henson, 2010) in educational and psychological measurement, methods for testing their absolute goodness-of-fit to real data remain relatively underdeveloped. For tests of reasonable length and for realistic sample size, full-information test statistics…

This study investigated the application of multidimensional item response theory (IRT) models to validate test structure and dimensionality. Multiple content areas or domains within a single subject often exist in large-scale achievement tests. Such areas or domains may cause multidimensionality or local item dependence, which both violate the…

The objectives of this paper are threefold. First, a model is proposed for unifying massive amounts of conceptual and numerical information flowing from the measures of the accountability movement in Ohio and the materials that are publicly available to educators. Second, this model is translated into useable forms of information that help…

A description of the comprehensive testing program model currently in the Public Schools of the District of Columbia is provided. The primary objective of the testing program is to facilitate academic instructions of individual students. The four types of testing programs in the D.C. public schools are Standardized Achievement Tests,…

The current study investigates the effect of adding an individual growth measure to the primary definition of AYP. A variety of approaches to measuring growth have already been identified and are in use in schools across the country. In almost every statewide assessment system, a measure of the amount that individual students change from one year…

Much of the intrinsic wealth of planning and instructional information available from achievement testing programs goes untapped in typical reporting procedures. Large-scale programs reporting only pupil scores and the results of aggregating those scores stop far short of the purposes intended and fail to realize the potential of such information.…

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has contracted with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research to develop and field test performance assessments in mathematics, language arts, and science. Together with a Wisconsin-developed knowledge and concepts test, the new performance assessments will provide important information about the…

The purposes of this paper are to analyze some problems in using student test scores to evaluate teachers and to propose an achievement-based model for teacher evaluation that is effective, affordable, fair, legally defensible, and politically acceptable. The system is designed for detecting and documenting poor teacher performance. (Auth/JAZ)

After a brief review of recent research concerning school effectiveness, this paper proposes an approach to operationalizing school effectiveness that is based on the achievement of students in a school over a period of time. This three-level model does not follow a single cohort of students as they progress through school. Rather, it uses the…

The major elements of a test interpretation model which would assist school personnel in presenting standardized test information to the public are presented. The model is a prototype based upon the testing program used in the Oakland, California Public Schools. An outline and sequence of the test score presentation are suggested, including notes…

In September 1962, the State Board of Education initiated a broad annual study of the academic achievement and scholastic aptitude of West Virginia public schools called the State-County Testing Program. The results of this program in Region II West Virginia schools for 1965-66 - 1969-70 are analyzed to: 1) identify discernable trends; 2) find any…

As part of the career development curriculum materials for Michigan schools, this packet contains six sample student assessment test booklets. One of the test booklets provided is for grade 4; two are for grade 7; three are for grade 10. The booklets assess students' progress in meeting the state's essential performance objectives for career…